House of New Delhi

After meeting the Internuncio in the Nilgiris in 1935 (vide supra) Fr Paganini and Fr Ambrosio went to Delhi, and after repeated attempts to get admittance there, were allowed to stay provisionally until they were admitted elsewhere. They rented an apartment in Old Delhi, acquired a treadle machine and began the apostolate of the press. On weekdays they celebrated Mass in the house, on Sundays they went to the parish. After Sunday Mass, they would buy copies of The Herald, a Catholic weekly published from Calcutta (now Kolkatta) and distribute them to the Catholic families on their way back home. That was their Pauline apostolate. Through their hard work they barely managed to maintain themselves.

When their resources were exhausted, Fr DmenicoAmbrosio went to Italy to raise funds. In the meantime, not having a partner to speak Italian, Fr Paganini learnt English, Hindi and Hindustani fairly well.

In December 1936 Primo Maestro sent Fr Paganini to Japan as help was needed there, and Fr Vico Anselm came to take his place in Delhi, but after a few months he fell ill and had to return to Italy.
Fr Alfonso Ferrero arrived in Bombay on 2 August 1937 and immediately went to New Delhi to meet Fr Domenico Ambrosio who was about to leave for South America. In Delhi Fr Alfonso Ferrero found a residence in Court Road, Civil Lines; it had a garage which was soon converted into a mini press with a treadle machine and a few sets of types. In October the same year two more Paulines – Fr Gabriel Colasanto and Br Bernardino Ruffoli – arrived in Delhi.

As noted earlier,on 13 October 1938 Archbishop Mulligan admitted the Society of St Paul into the diocese of Delhi. However, the presence of the SSP here was short-lived. As Italy sided with Germany and against Britain in the War, the British authorities looked with suspicion on the Italian missionaries, and so the three Paulines returned to Allahabad on 21 June 1939.

Twenty five years later, in 1964 Fr Attilio Tempra and Br Angelo Pullokaran went to Delhi to open a new house and a book centre. 32 At present the community has a spacious house in Greater Kailash II outside the city and a book centre at Connaught Place in the city.

The community’s Mini-Media Centre, started by Fr M.K. Paul in 1985, has been bringing out and distributing a large variety of greeting cards for all occasions (5000 copies of each); it has also brought out bookmarks of 400 varieties. Every year the centre publishes and distributes 20,000 copies of “Family Art Calendar.” Besides, it also produces and distributes certificates of Baptism, Confirmation and First Holy Communion. It also publishes pictures of the Stations of the Cross in different sizes. The centre has recently been shifted to Mumbai.

Thoughts

19/12/2018
Those who do not love young people cannot find the means and they neither know how to attract them. Only those who love often think of others, and thinking of others is often the secret of success (ATP 282).

We celebrate the feast of our Founder, Blessed James Alberione. Along with my Team and all in the Provincialate, I join you spiritually to celebrate the event meaningfully. I pray that God our loving Father may shower his choicest blessings on all of us and on all the apostolic activities of our Province through the intercession of our beloved Founder.

Our Province has just celebrated the Chapter on the theme “Do everything for the Gospel”. Alberione employed all his energies to the spread of the Good News in all its forms with all means that were at his disposal. Though physically weak he was moved by the Spirit of God to leap in to the unknown for the sake of the Gospel. May the vision of our heavenly Founder inspire us to greater commitment in our mission. May his determination to do something noble to the men and women of his times challenge us to personal renewal and may his indomitable spirit inspire us to be and to do everything for the Gospel.

Have a wonderful and grace-filled celebration of the feast. Stay blessed always.

Kindly keep our Brothers in Nigeria in your special prayers. May the Good Shepherd be close to them during these days of pain, sorrow and loss.